Monday, March 11, 2024

A Wet 13.1

It has been wet!  Of course we wanted snow but that elusive snow never arrived.  Instead we have had wet conditions for all of our outdoor activities lately! Maddox and I were huddled under my umbrella at Zander's soccer game on Friday night.  

Zander had a field trip to the local bowling alley.  A friend sent me this picture of my 5th grader!
On Saturday, the "sweaty sisters" ran our annual half marathon!  Given how busy the spring schedule is for Lindsey and me, we are glad to have knocked out our 13.1 mile race before the craziness of spring sports is in full swing!  The conditions were pouring rain and temperatures in the 40s.  Needless to say, this was probably one of the worst weather days for our yearly half marathon!  We were missing our cheering section but gave them a pass considering the weather conditions!  My best friend, Carmen, ran the race as well!  She came in first for our age group and I came in 2nd a few minutes behind her (1:54:05 overall time with a 8:42 pace).  Linds came in 3rd for her younger age group!  This was my first race moving up to the 40-49 year old bracket.... and my first race since my milestone birthday! I was excited about my time especially considering the weather and my "advanced" age! haha
After the race (and a quick shower), we headed to cheer on Zander for a second soccer game of the weekend and then to cheer on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in basketball.  It was great weekend with my boys!

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Life Lately

We love our Sunday evening routine of going to AWANA at church! I love that I get to be with Maddox's group for the rotations and can see him serving within the children's ministry!  We always get our "sweet treat" afterwards... ice cream for dinner.... whose complaining?! ;)


Maddox finally has one of his front teeth coming in that were taken out 4 years ago!   While M has teeth coming in, Zander continues to lose the next group that has to come out!  Braces are in the near future for him once these permanent teeth come in!

Twin Day at School!  Zander wanted to match his mommy for his final twin day of his elementary career... I'm trying not to cry over here!  Maddox was twinning with one of his best friends!

Grammy, Grandpa and Daddy held down the fort while mommy was out of town for work!  I missed the last basketball games of the season but I was able to get updates on scores and get pictures from the end of season party that Zack planned for Maddox's team!  I am working toward my National Boards Certification in Teaching.  Basically, I am writing and studying any chance I get before my exam at the end of March and when the written components are due online at the beginning of May.  I won't find out the results until December but I am praying that all this hard work will pay off! It has been many early and late hours and time sacrificed to work toward this goal!  Prayers appreciated!



Emma's baby dedication was last weekend.  She is precious and the service was so special.  There was a luncheon afterwards for family and friends in the fellowship hall.  I love this sweet family so much!

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Broken Fences and Fender Benders

I came home on a Friday afternoon to see that a neighbor's tree had taken out four places in our fenced in backyard.  What a way to start the weekend!?  We haven't had it fixed yet and I think I was almost more sad that it hit Burke's grave than us having to mend the fence in four sections.  I guess it is good we don't need a fenced in yard just yet to contain a family pet!  We are hoping to have a new four-legged addition to our family in the next year or so!  Stay tuned....

I was able to spend 24 hours with my best friend, Liz.  We ate yummy food, watched T.V., talked for hours and enjoyed a long walk on the greenway! I love this annual tradition as it feels great to get away and not have any responsibilities for a bit!  I came home to both boys throwing up (Z within 10 minutes of my arrival) so I got to spend that Monday at home cuddled up with my boys.  

Valentine's Day with some of my favorite valentines.....
We went to grab our free donuts for their great report cards.... All A's for Z and All level 3s for M!  I'm so proud of how hard these boys work at school!
We enjoyed a family day snow tubing.... since the snow isn't coming to us, we decided to find some snow and had the best time with our little family of four!
100th Day of School.... We dressed as 100 year olds! ;)  It was Zander's 1000th day of elementary school! Crazy huh?!

Today, we went separate directions.... Grammy and I went to cheer on Zander for his first soccer tournament of the spring season and Daddy and Madman went to play/coach an indoor sport.... basketball!  It was freezing cold for these soccer games and Daddy came outside to see that someone had hit his parked car.... it was a hit and run and we are working through getting the insurance and repairs taken care of.  Never a dull moment!



Friday, February 2, 2024

Life Lately

Our fifth grader is officially in the last semester of his elementary school career and as the 5th grade staff parents sat down to create a yearbook page for these "seniors" (nine of them in all), I started to cry.  I cannot believe Zander won't be with me next year!  I am going to miss this crew so much.... and I'm just going to leave it at that for now! ;)


I got to see Emma and Aunt Kelly and Uncle Jonathan a couple weeks ago.... Baby Emma cuddles are the best! We are trying to get her to call me Auntie M! Stay tuned... 

Both boys had birthday parties while Zack was out of town for work... mommy survived shuttling them back and forth to the various festivities they had.... Friends helped with the transporting as well... it takes a village!

Wacky Tacky Night at Awana ....He created this all by himself and won for the K-2 boys!
The boys enjoyed two days with Grammy while I had workdays to end the 2nd quarter of the school year.  We are so thankful for all the adventures Grammy has with the kids! It made it a lot easier for me to work and the boys continue to talk about all the fun they had!

Zack won the President's Club Award.... for the second time in his career!  This time he got to walk the stage!  When he won it in 2021, he was on a zoom call.  Last time we were able to go to Hawaii!  The trip this year is planned for Miami!  The dates might conflict with other events this spring.....so stay tuned to see if we make it to my home state or if we need to postpone for another time! I'm so proud of our favorite guy and how hard he works to provide for our family!
Middle of Year Awards Day.... Both boys got certificates for honor roll!  Zander has all A's both quarters and Maddox has had all 3s and 4s.... so proud of both of our boys and how hard they work in school!



Sunday, January 14, 2024

Winter Sports: Basketball!

We've been busy since we rang in the new year!  The boys have started back to basketball.... enjoying practices throughout the week and games on Saturday.  It was so much fun cheering on the boys and their cousin, Emmy, to three wins in their first week of games!  They have since had a second weekend of basketball and had three wins again (I got the highlights of Z's game from another parent)! ;)  Daddy, Uncle Boomer, and Grandpa are helping coach the kids' teams which means the whole family is committed to Saturdays at the basketball court!  Zander missed his game yesterday due to a fever, lethargy and cough that started on Friday.  The doctor said it isn't strep or the flu so we are just waiting out the virus! He has started feeling better today and now Maddox is under the weather.   We are praying the germs leave quickly and are thankful the symptoms are manageable with some pain medication!  We are also thankful for the long weekend and having an extra day to recover tomorrow before heading back to school. Daddy still has to work but I think the rest of us will be taking it easy.  Zander starts back to soccer next week so we will be juggling multiple sports until March!  Prayers appreciated ;)

Both boys won in the Ninja Warrior Night last week in Awana.  They had the fastest times in the inflatable obstacle course (Z for 3rd-5th, M for K-2nd).  These boys are definitely competitive and athletic!

I was able to have two social gatherings this week in spite of the hectic pace that has started in the new year.  I got to see some of my best friends for dinner and celebrate a co-worker and cherished friend's 50th birthday party with many of my colleagues.  Since we were celebrating M's teacher, he got to tag along. ;)

Monday, January 1, 2024

Hello 2024!

As I say every year, our favorite week is the time we get off of school and work between Christmas and New Year's Day!  Daddy is home and we have fun doing little daily outings and knocking things off the ongoing yearly to-do list.  The boys enjoyed a swim at the YMCA pool on the day after Christmas (Tuesday)!

On Wednesday, we went for a foggy, misty hike at Pilot Mountain.  With the questionable weather, we opted for a closer and shorter (3 mile) hike compared to previous years going to Stone Mountain.  I promise there is a mountain overlook behind our family picture! haha



On Thursday, I loaded up the boys to head back home to see two of my best friends and all of their boys.  These are two of my favorite #boymoms and I love any chance we can get together.  It is so cool to see the friendships developing between our boys as well over the years.  We spent the day with the Greenes on Thursday, playing at their new home.  On Friday, we spent the day with Ginny and her boys, going to a climbing gym and indoor soccer field.  With the colder temperatures on Friday, these were perfect activities for our busy boys!  While we had fun, daddy painted our front living room and it looks so good! :)



We had a low-key day on Saturday, continuing to leisurely check off things on our to-do list and eating a delicious dinner at Out West.  We enjoyed our family day for sure!  For New Year's Eve, we hosted our normal NYE crew for a low country boil (made by Zack) and some delicious sides and desserts.  I love that we can spend the last few hours of each year with some of our very best friends!


Daddy went to bed around 9:30/10:00.  The boys and I made it up until midnight to watch the ball drop and welcome in 2024.  This was Maddox's first year making it up to see midnight and Zander's second year staying up to see the new year!


I finished out the year with running over 1,000 miles!  Even with turning 40 this year, I am still staying active and enjoying the exercise (and "me time") whenever I can.  I actually made 1,050 miles during my 39th year (July 2022-June 2023).  A goal for 2024 will be to read through the entire Bible, changing my focus from my physical health to my spiritual development.  I'm excited about this new goal and to move away from running so many miles, using the time to read God's word (while maybe on the elliptical instead). :)